Beta Don

True, true! My Fav is a '51 Kaiser resto-mod I saw on Jay Leno's Garage - Google 'Jay Leno 51 Kaiser' and watch the 15 minute YouTube video - 8 years and lord knows how much money, but other than the paint, that very talented young man did every bit of it himself - Keep in mind it started out as a 4 door Kaiser Don

That sounds like a TON of time and money to be pouring into a ten year old vehicle . . . . and you probably only increased it's value (if any) by about 20% of what you spent. Personally, if *I* was going to do something similar, I'd start out with a 2018 or 19 with very few miles so I could enjoy driving my new creation for many years and miles . . . . and hopefully get back some of my money when I went to sell it later on Don

An update on my Sam's Club AGM experience This past August, we drove the TC over to Titusville Florida (600 miles) to pick up a motor home we'd bought. Sometimes, we go a month or two or even longer between uses of the TC because we have 3 electric cars we drive every day, so the TC only gets used for long trips or when we need to haul something big or tow something. Put the TC back in the garage, but as it turned out, I forgot to unplug the GPS from our 'always on' power socket. When I needed to move it again about 3 weeks later so the Propane delivery guy could drag a hose through the garage, it wouldn't start. Checked the battery with a voltmeter - 4.6 volts!! Toasted my AGM battery, or so I thought. Voltage was so low a conventional battery charger wouldn't recognize it, but I have an old 6 amp charger that will work with anything, so I hooked it up to that and it took 3 days to put enough power in it to where the TC would start. Had an occasion a few days later to drive it over to Mobile (60 miles) and when I got ready to leave to come back, it wouldn't start again. Got a jump, drove it home and hooked it back up to the 6 amp charger and left it for a week or two Drove it once more since then and it started OK, so I bought a little Battery Tender Jr and I've kept it on that ever since Anyway, I got to thinking about Sam's Club's 3 year Free Replacement Warranty and since I bought the battery in April of 2017 (and it was manufactured in January of 2017) I'm getting near the end of that 3 years, so . . . . I took the battery out of the TC to take to Sam's to get a free replacement. The Battery Tender has kept it at 13.2 volts for the past couple months and I realized that Sam's would no doubt load check the battery to make sure it's actually bad before they give me another one, and not wanting any surprises at the store, I figured maybe I'd better check it myself before I took it over there So, I hook the battery up to an inverter and plugged a 200 watt 120 volt light bulb into the inverter to use for a load. It's drawing right at 20 amps from the battery and I expected the battery voltage to go south pretty quickly. I could not believe what happened next!! After an HOUR of providing 20 amps to the inverter, the battery voltage had sagged to 12.15 volts (it was 12.25 under load when I started the test) and when I shut it off, the battery voltage rose (over a 4 or 5 minute period) to 12.55 volts. 12.6 is a full battery! So much for taking it to Sam's for a free replacement - I might as well put it back in the TC and see how long it lasts, 'cause they're sure not gonna give me another one when they do their own load test on it In my opinion, it's one heck of a battery - Sitting for an extended period at less than 6 volts and then coming back to life like it has is VERY impressive! Don

I had a set of basket weave BBS wheels on my Miata that I really loved - They weighed 9 pounds and the Mazda dealer price for them was over $800 EACH . . . . and another $200 for the hubcap Bought a FWD Protege 5 which was 5 bolt (the Miata was 4) and I discovered quite by accident that Mazda had used a nearly identical wheel on their RX7 Convertibles for 2 or 3 years back in the '80's . . . . and they were 5 bolt, same pattern as my Protege 5 . . . . but the RX-7 had a slightly smaller center bore. It was rear wheel drive and the Protege was FWD. Same ridiculous price for those wheels from Mazda, but the convertibles were old enough you could occasionally run across the wheels on the used market and sometimes at very reasonable prices. There often isn't much demand for used OEM wheels, especially if they're 20 or 30 years old Long story short, I found a very pristine set with the centercaps for $200 and snapped them up. Took the wheels to a local machinist along with a stock wheel off the Protege and he chucked them in the lathe and bored the centers out a few millimeters to match the Protege wheel for me - $50 for the set of 4 . . . . only took him about half an hour, total So, if you're looking for OEM wheels off another car and the lug pattern matches up with what you want to put them on, but the center bore doesn't, it's still do-able. There are plastic rings you can buy to make a too large center bore still be hub centric on your car, and if the center bore is too small, it's not that big a deal to get that fixed either For me, I actually prefer a good used set of OEM wheels off another model car to the el-cheapo aftermarket wheels that routinely sell for 3X or 4X what they're actually worth. In most cases, the OEM wheels are considerably stronger than the aftermarket ones (car manufacturers can't afford accidents caused by suspect wheels) and no doubt, they're cheaper too. Many times, some bozo took off a brand new set of OEM wheels so he could install an ugly, el-cheapo set of aftermarket wheels and he's looking to sell is OEM wheels for about 1/4 what the dealer wants for them . . . . or even less I found a like new set of 16X7 Ford Focus wheels for my TC and paid about $250 for the set - Not a scratch on them. Stock steel wheels from Tire Rack cost about the same. Shop around . . . . there are plenty of nice looking used wheels out there and they can be had for very reasonable prices Don

Time for some basic troubleshooting - Remove the bulb, turn on the lights and measure the voltage on the socket pins with a voltmeter. If there's no voltage there (and if you're 100% sure the new bulb is good, it's very likely there's no voltage there) then it's very likely the fuse that the other bulb uses isn't the same fuse for both headlights. Sometimes (rarely, but sometimes) when an incandescent bulb burns out it creates a momentary short which can blow a fuse and then when you replace the bulb, you still have no light But . . . . if you do measure 12 volts or something close on the pins of that socket, it's very likely your 'new' bulb was defective right out of the box - That doesn't happen very often either, but it does . . . . sometimes If it was me, and I didn't own a voltmeter, I would have already swapped the bulbs side for side before I went to a forum asking for ideas - If the not lit bulb swaps sides when you swap bulbs, you've found your dead bulb Don

. . . . and when you 'do the math' that makes them the least expensive tires you can buy - Moral of the story - You don't have to buy cheap junk tires and change them every other year to save money Don

A quick Google check shows Colorado, Virginia and New Jersey have similar laws too - Looks like there are more than I thought Don

An ophthalmologist explained the detriment of hanging anything from the rear view mirror of a car to me about 40 years ago - I've never forgotten what he told me He said that although we humans *think* we 'see' with our eyes, we actually don't. Our eyes just collect data which is sent to the brain where it's assembled into an image. Like most other bodily functions, the brain controls everything - It tells your eyes where it needs input from and moves them (and your head) accordingly, constantly assembling new images to consider all the while When you hang something from a mirror, that creates constant movement as the object swings around as the car moves and that movement is very distracting to the brain . . . . so it pretty much just ignores it - Any movement in that area is written off as being the object hanging from the mirror, so no need to pay any attention to it. That effectively creates a dead spot in your vision encompassing the area just below your mirror - Any movement near that area gets overlooked, so if a car, a child, a deer or anything else which is moving in that general area and would otherwise alert your brain that there's something over there that needs to be checked out, you may very well end up not seeing it, for all intents and purposes - Even if the movement there does eventually register in your brain as something other than what's hanging from the mirror and alert you that you might be about to hit something, that alert is much delayed and the inevitable collision probably still happens - You didn't 'see' it soon enough to do anything about it My daughter has hit 2 or 3 deer over the years - To hear her, they hit her as they 'just came out of nowhere' and she didn't have time to take evasive action . . . . but she's still pretty sure the crap hanging from her mirror had nothing to do with it! You may have noticed that about a quarter to a third of all vehicles have something hanging from the mirror. Oughta be a law against it, IMO. Some gals (mostly) like to drive with a little multi-faceted crystal ball hanging there, reflecting light all around the interior of the car! I honestly don't see how they're even able to keep it on the road with all that distraction . . . . and beware, many of them can't! Don

If it doesn't do it without the ladder up there, but it does when you strap on the ladder, I think you've found your culprit for sure. Maybe you could try swapping the ladder end for end - That should make it better . . . . or worse, but at least you'd know for sure it's the ladder causing the problem I had a little Mazda wagon that had roof crossbars which I very seldom used and just the front crossbar made an unusual noise that I wasn't at all happy with. The very next year on the same model, Mazda addressed the problem by adding little rubber 'spoilers' on the underside of the crossbar. When I complained to my dealer about the noise, they ordered and installed the newer model crossbar for me and while it didn't eliminate the problem entirely, it did lessen it to the point that nobody but me noticed it any longer Pretty much anything on the roof at freeway speeds is going to make some noise - Some of them more objectionable than others. All the more so in a vehicle with little or no insulation in the headliner , , , , or in your case, no headliner at all Don

Nice find!! They do help (just a little) to draw your eye away from all the 'stuff' stuck all over the back of your van ? Don

I once towed a '66 Corvair Corsa on a tow dolly (backwards) 1100 miles from Iowa to Biloxi MS with a '93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV, which is a mini, mini van - 4 cylinder automatic. The two keys are . . . . take your time getting up to speed and leave LOTS of extra room in front of you because (in my case) the car and the dolly outweighed my tow vehicle by several hundred pounds, so stopping distances are measured in yards, not feet! 200 miles with a Gen 1 TC and a car as light as a TR-3 would be a piece of cake! Don

Since it's both the exterior and the interior lights and they only do it when the engine is running, I would suspect a common ground, likely one in the engine compartment which would be more susceptible to engine vibrations. The TC uses the chassis as the ground connection for EVERYTHING, even the starter and the most important one is a short battery cable between the negative terminal on the battery and the chassis nearby - They left a post where it grounds to the chassis as a handy place for connecting jumper cables and charging cables - Check that area thoroughly for anything loose Don

I sold my Miata a couple years after I bought our TC - I owned a 1994 R package for 20 years . . . . it just got too difficult to get into and out of for an old man! ? The 'other reason' for the sale was . . . . I was just out of garage space and no way was my Miata going to sit out in the weather - It never did in the 20 years I owned it. We have 4 cars and a motor home, so garage space is at a real premium around here! Don

It's about flush with the back of the bumper, but it's tucked up very tight with the bottom lip of it If you have a need for the 2" receiver, by all means go that way - It is more versatile, though they do make bike racks for the 1 1/4 receivers too - My daughter has one on her car and she never pulls a trailer. Otherwise, I actually prefer the smaller Class 2 for 4 cylinder cars which will never tow anything heavy where you don't need the extra tongue weight rating Don

I bought the class 2 mainly because I've had them on other small cars and I already had an assortment of hitch receivers to fit it . . . . and, because in more than 20 years, I've never had any accessory (bike racks etc) which require a 2 inch receiver. Also, the smaller hitch adapter is easy to stow away - I wrap mine in an old tee shirt and stow it in the rear drivers side compartment But . . . . it's true that the 2 inch receiver *is* more versatile, *if* you have need of accessories which will only fit a 2 inch - Not a consideration in my case Don

How long anything automotive last for you vs anyone else would not be a valid comparison - There are TC's out there with 200,000 miles on them still running fine. Much depends on HOW you drive it and how it's maintained. If you drive it 'briskly' (or worse) then it needs more maintenance than if your normal zero to sixty time is 15 or 20 seconds. A gently driven TC gets 26 to 30 mpg - One driven briskly (or in lots of city traffic) gets much worse . . . . and needs more frequent maintenance. I'm pretty darned gentle with mine and am averaging right at 29 mpg . . . . and I drained and flushed my transmission at 25,000 miles Don

It's definitely different - Nobody uses that high paraffin crap today, but it did destroy many engines before everyone caught on. I'm sure their modern oils and synthetics are probably about as good as most others . . . . I just don't use them ? Don

Havoline has been a premium grade oil for half a century or more - I would have no qualms about using it in any engine of mine. Everything I have is now using synthetic, so the super priced stuff you found from Amazon wouldn't do me much good though. One time years ago, I found Purolator Pure One oil filters to fit my Mazdas (and also my Kubota diesel) on Amazon for less than $3 each, so I bought a case of 24 - They were 7 or 8 bucks everywhere else. Those lasted me several years. Every now and then, Amazon has something at a price almost too good to be true, but it is. Those sales usually only last for a few days, so if it's something you use, buy up a ton of it while you're getting it for half price or less Other than Exxon and Mobil products, the only other brands I shy away from are Pennzoil and Quaker State. Old timers here may recall that both of those were originally made only from Pennsylvania crude oil (hence the names) which was very high in Paraffin (wax) which was thought in the old days to be the cat's meow for engines with babbited bearings. When it came time to do any engine work though, you literally needed a crow bar to pry the valve cover off the engine because it was full of solid wax! I'm sure in this modern age, both Pennzoil and Quaker State are now making very good products, but my thinking has always been that the other manufacturers have about 30 years experience on them, because in the old days, they weren't researching any good oil molecules . . . . they were just peddling that waxy crap! ☹️ Don

Where? Seattle, Miami, San Juan . . . . someplace in between?? Don

$84 per wheel!?!? I'm sitting on a gold mine here! What's a 'winter tire'? - Never bought one of those ? Don

Don't know about the Gen 1 version, but the Gen2's were made in Spain Don

Mobile is a city in Alabama - The oil company is just Mobil . . . . owned by Exxon, the folks who polluted a large chunk of Alaska and then rather than cleaning it up, they hired lawyers to keep from having to pay the Alaskans who lost much of their livelyhood because of their oil spill. Neither company will ever sell me a dimes worth of anything. Luckily, there are half a dozen oils just as good or better . . . . made by more environmentally friendly companies Don

. . . . and you shouldn't! - Any quality steel belted radial should be fine at the maximum pressure indicated on the sidewall and not show any unusual wear patterns. My other 3 cars are all EV's and I run all their tires at or very near the maximum pressure on the sidewall and the tread on all of them wears perfectly flat from one side to the other

Really good tires are cheap insurance - They're cheaper than repairs after a lesser tire puts you off the road at high speed. You can buy good tires or you can buy new fenders & repaint them . . . . if you're lucky enough to still be right side up after you hit the ditch Buy generic canned goods, generic clothes, generic anything you like to save money, but buy new, first rate tires and save money elsewhere Don

The max pressure on the sidewall is what the tire manufacturer says - Don't go above this number or the tire will be so stiff and inflexible that when you hit a pothole you'll damage the tire . . . . probably break a belt The door sticker is the vehicle manufacturer telling you that their number is safe, will give you decent gas mileage and a somewhat comfortable ride - Don't go below this number no matter what, because you could be compromising safety. Underinflated tires heat up and too much heat destroys the tire carcass - You can't see it happening, but this is what causes most blowouts . . . . a tire that was overheated 2 or 3 times in the past finally comes apart when you least expect it I use the door sticker number, plus 10 to 15% on all my vehicles Don